


And the beast asked a question.

by cloaked_saurosuchus



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Filling in canon gaps, Gen, RA Fanfic Challenge, RA Fanfic Challenge #3, major character death is teezal getting vibe checked but there's like. three characters in this.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25953529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloaked_saurosuchus/pseuds/cloaked_saurosuchus
Summary: Morgarath finds an enemy he can't stare down in the Mountains.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9
Collections: RA Fanfiction Challenge #3





	And the beast asked a question.

**Author's Note:**

> brought to you by me drawing way too many kalkara in the past two weeks. nothing extra I just wanna write magic things in the ra universe.  
> as always, if you find any strange sentence structures, typos and/or grammar errors, lmk, I'll fix them asap!

Morgarath had met his fair share of bears and they weren’t _that_ large, really. And with his swordsmanship, a single swing could dispatch the danger they posed. As far as he knew, apes weren’t massive animals either. Morgarath didn’t consider either of the animals to be imposing.

He _was_ , on the other hand, _very_ close to considering the kalkara to be just that.

They found the beast while scouting the mountain’s caves with a wargal unit. That unit was almost gone now, torn to shreds by the furious claws of the previously-legendary creature. He was straining to keep the rest of them around it, standing in pools of blood of their own brethren. It wasn’t _as_ bad as when they were attacked by the cavalry, but he was fairly sure that he wouldn’t be able to make them focus well enough to actually take the beast down.

Once again, his soldiers were useless. Morgarath frowned and hissed in frustration. Teezal stepped up next to him, wary of the angry lord. “Sir?”

“Go and kill that cursed creature.”

“Yes, my lord,” Teezal nodded and unsheathed his own great sword. The circle of more elite wargals around the two humans opened and closed a path for him on Morgarath’s silent command and Teezal slowly approached the beast.

It was just another animal, encircled by more animals, he thought. Nothing in this godforsaken place was anything more than an animal. This was a dangerous animal, that was sure, but still, an animal. And animals could be cut down.

Teezal made a small circle with the tip of his sword, loosening up his wrists, and smiled. With enough momentum and muscle, he could cut through nearly anything. The bear-like beast was currently snarling at one of the wargals surrounding it. It seemed bored, annoyed, in a way. Not paying attention and looking in a different direction.

It was perfect. Teezal got a running start. It was still looking away, and as the wargals in front of him parted, he was sure that a broad swing like this could plow through any-

The beast was looking at him. The sword flew out of his hands and clattered uselessly on the ground.

He could not look away from those red, terrible eyes. He wanted to. Oh god, how much he wanted to look away and run. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t move at all.

Morgarath cursed as he saw his captain completely freeze. Teezal wasn’t the brightest at times, but he wasn’t completely daft. Or the type to lock up from fear of a goddamn _animal_. Something was wrong. And Morgarath wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know what. He started slowly, quietly retreating, surrounded by his wargal entourage. He kept his eyes locked on the two figures.

The beast was approaching Teezal at a leisurely pace. Still looking absolutely bored, but it’s gaze fixed on the captain’s face. He must’ve been looking back.

It came so close, Teezal could feel it’s breath on his skin, the blood-red eyes just inches from his face. He still couldn’t move. He still couldn’t tear away his gaze, oh god, how much he wanted to-

He didn’t see the first blow coming. He heard several wargals around him shriek in terror and scatter as he collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. The amount of pain he felt blooming around his torso felt very, very wrong. The blood he covered his own hands in as he clutched his stomach was even worse. He had to get away. He tried to get up, but his knees gave out the second he put any weight on them. His face collided with the cave floor as he felt a weight on his back to top it off.

He thought about how it was stupid that he was getting literally stepped on and it was the last thought he’d ever have.

Morgarath felt his control over the wargals falter again as he saw the beast ground his captain, close it’s jaws around his neck and then expertly snap it with zero hesitation.

It was the eyes. The moment their eye contact broke, Teezal tried to bolt, the bastard.

Morgarath’s retreat hastened but still remained careful. The beast was rummaging through Teezal’s belongings, so it was distracted, but the speed with which it snapped towards the former captain before gave away the fact that it was probably more attentive than it seemed.

The beast stopped as it found something underneath Teezal’s shirt, took it out and carefully examined it.

Something washed over Morgarath’s connection with the wargals. It wasn’t his doing. It wasn’t the wargals’ doing either. And then it _settled_.

Morgarath froze and forced himself to stare at the ground just in time. He caught a glimpse of the beast turning towards him.

“Who… are you?”

He didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t a _question_. The beast’s voice was strained, slow and rumbling, but it was carefully enunciated and sure in what it was saying.

Oh right, the question was aimed at him.

He calmed down, put on his usual condescending smirk and had to force himself to not stare down the other party in the conversation. This habit could be the death of him in this situation. But staring at rocks certainly wouldn’t add to his apparent confidence either.

He closed his eyes and straightened up to his full height.

“I am Morgarath, lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night,” he answered, his cadence threateningly nonchalant.

The beast’s reply was a barking laughter. He did not let his fury show.

“You humans are a funny bunch.”

It felt like every sentence the beast spoke took an eternity. An eternity in which Morgarath had to fight the urge to unsheathe his sword and dice the godforsaken creature.

“You can’t _rule_ over the Mountains. If anything, they rule over _you_.”

Morgarath’s smile dropped, his voice now filled with thinly covered anger and impatience. “What do you want.”

A soft clinking noise reached Morgarath’s ears.

“You have silver.”

Oh. He vaguely remembered Teezal having a silver pendant of some sort.

So that was it. A smile crept back upon Morgarath’s face. That bastard wasn’t useless in the end after all.

They weren’t beasts. They were mercenaries.

“Yes,” he replied and took a blind but confident step towards the creature. “And I could get you more, a lot more, in fact. You’d just have to help me eliminate some… problems. You’d get some in advance, of course.”

He felt confidence fill him again as he heard the beast slowly approach.

He opened his eyes and looked at the kalkara. It was grinning, teeth bared, red eyes locked on him in anticipation.

He could still move.

Morgarath’s smile widened into a similar grin. He took a gamble and it was about to pay off. Oh, the possibilities with creatures like these. _Wonderful!_

“And just _who_ this problem is?” the beast asked, raspy voice filled with murderous glee.


End file.
